


The Past starts the Future

by Peggysousfan



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Daniel Sousa - Freeform, Evil organization, F/M, Jack Thompson - Freeform, Micheal Carter - Freeform, Peggy Carter - Freeform, attempeted murder, back from the dead, brain washing, not so dead, peggysous(Background)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24298600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peggysousfan/pseuds/Peggysousfan
Summary: Peggy's brother, Micheal, is revealed to be alive and now in SSR custody. How will she react? Where has he been all this time? And why did he try to kill Jack Thompson?
Relationships: Peggy Carter & Daniel Sousa & Jack Thompson, Peggy Carter & Micheal Carter, Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa
Kudos: 35





	The Past starts the Future

**Author's Note:**

> This is also a chapter for the New Years series, but I figured I would also post it individually as a one shot

"How is this possible?" She says, her voice faint in disbelief. The man before her familiar, and yet estranged. Lost and changed beyond her knowledge. 

"You know this guy?" The man sitting down chuckles, his memory getting more coherent by the day. Although his sister was one of the first and strongest to stay in his mind. Giving him the will and strength to fight to survive. 

Carter doesn't answer her old supervisor, instead a single tear slips down her cheek, shocking everyone in the room. Everyone except the man in question. He too release a tear, happy to finally see his sister after all these years apart. 

"Hey bitsy-bob ." He says softly, her heart pounding in her chest. Peggy inhales a deep breath before wiping away the salty water on her face, and quickly leaving the room. Her beau notices everything from the other side of the glass and tries to catch up to her. 

"Peg? Peggy." 

She finally stops, her breathing uneven. Sousa takes his free hand and slips it under her chin, trying to peer into her gaze. Peggy hesitates but looks up, fighting the sniffles and tears. He sighs and drops his hand, taking her into his office for more privacy. She sits on the opposite of the desk, but instead of Daniel sitting across from her he sits beside her, clasping his hand in hers. All is quiet, leaving Daniel bursting with questions. For some time she doesn't say anything, she simply stares at the ground and holds Daniel's hand. He squeezes lightly before scooting closer to her and asking if she was okay. Peggy hardly ever cried in front of anyone, even him, so seeing her in this state, at work, worries him. This man must have had an impact in some way to have this affect on her. 

"He... he's a ghost." Before Daniel can reply, his office door opens and a voice from behind them rings through. 

"He's an assassin, Marge. Not a damn ghost."

"He's my brother, Thompson! Someone who died a long time ago."

At her outburst both Jack and Daniel stiffen and pale. They can't believe what they've heard. How can a dead man walk, attempt to kill Thompson, and be caught? How can a dead man be sitting in the interrogation room?

For over a year the SSR- more importantly Agent Carters team- had been investigating and hunting down the man that gunned down chief Thompson and stole the redacted file Vernon masters had requested. A coo to discredit Peggy, and yet the file was real and not faked. However it was used as a stage to ruin her, and yet it vanished with the assassin. The man now identified as Micheal Carter.

"Peg, are you sure?" She chuckles, yet not amused.

"I'm positive. That person... that assassin... is my bother Micheal. He died in battle- 1940- long before I even enlisted or began training for the military. He- Micheal is the reason I joined in the first place. I-I tried to decline but..."

"His death was motivation for you to be you." Peggy looks up at Daniel, his eyes full of understanding. 

"That's impossible." Thompson states. Interrupting the revere of Carter's mind. "Dead don't walk, let alone speak and shoot. I need answers. Hell we all do. SO I say we go in there and get them."

"No!" Peggy turns quickly around to face him, knowing full well what Thompson will do if Micheal doesn't talk. "You will do no such thing, Jack. You're far to close to this. I suggest Daniel and-"

"You say that as if you're not! If that guy really is your brother, then you're closer to this than me."

"Alright enough." Daniel speaks up. "How about this. Peg, you and Jack both stay behind in the observation room and listen to what he has to say. I can go in and ask whatever question you two want asked, but neither of you enter the room. You're both too close to this in different ways and we don't need this going sideways."

Agent Carter and Chief Thompson grumble, unpleased by the mediation and yet listen anyway. The three walk into the observation room, Peggy and Jack writing down questions for Daniel to ask, along with his own of course. When it's down, Chief Sousa takes the paper and skims it over, giving a weary glance to Jack before leaving the room. Some of the questions won't be asked word for word that's for sure... When Daniel enters the interrogation room, Michel stops leaning over the table, lifts his head up from his hands, and sits straight,hope in his eyes. But once he sees who has entered, he's once again disappointed. 

"Sorry, I know I'm not who you expected. But you get what you're dealt with. Right?" Micheal looks over to the glass then glances at Daniel. 

"I suppose so." He mumbles and gulps. 

"So... You're Micheal Harrison Carter?" He again looks at Sousa, unsure what to say or do, then looks back to the glass. "She can see you. They both can."

"I didn't want to."

Micheal's words are so low that Daniel almost doesn't hear them. It takes a moment for him to comprehend. 

"What?"

"Your friend. The man, whom no doubt, is looking at me with a vengeful stare. I didn't want to." He looks from Daniel to the glass, hoping to see Thompson. "I'm truly sorry."

"If you didn't want to kill him, then why'd you shoot him and take something from his suitcase?"

As silence fallen between them, an eerie unease fills the observation room. Jack tries to keep his composure but Peggy can see through it. He's shaking slightly, the gaze of the man who almost killed him peers trough the glass. Even though Micheal can't see him, Jack can. Instead of answers they have more questions. How is he alive?Why did he take the file? What does he mean he didn't want to? Could he not control himself? Was he working alone? If not then who was he working with, or for? All three SSR personnel think of this, and it leaves them all confused.

Daniel repeats his question, asking Micheal why he did what he did, and his response shocks them all. 

"I didn't have a choice. That... him..." He gestures to a series of photos from the hotel, blood on the floor, and several other conspiracies and case evidence, "it wasn't me." Sousa sits up at this and peers closer at the man across from him. "I didn't want to. They didn't give me a choice."

"Who didn't?" but rather than looking at the man interrogating him, Micheal looks to the glass again, trying to see her. Hoping her view of him isn't as horrible as he fears. 

"They go by different names. Have different operations and covers." Still, he looks through the glass. "Its all so... whimsical." Much to Daniel's surprise, Micheal smirks at his word. "Deep like the abyss of a forgotten, dark cave. They're as crooked as the king himself, with secrets deeper than Camelot. No knight has ever slayed the beast. I was only lucky to escape the dragon's claws with my life."

As Daniel sits in disbelief, Peggy gasps softly and steps back. Jack looks from Micheal to her and back again. 

"That makes no damn sense."

"Maybe to you..." She replies, a glisten of mischief and hope shining in her eye. 

"Carter, what-" But she leaves before he can finish his sentence. 

Ever since she was a little girl, she wanted a life of adventure. Even when she was little, Peggy would reenact fairy tales and action scenes from stories. All the fun adventures she learned and read about. Her favorite of all was the knights of the round table. A crooked king, magic, adventure, the unexplained, dragons, and adventure. It was all there, and Micheal remembered this. Maybe there was hope after all.

Peggy always feared what his return could mean. Of course she wondered who it was in the casket they buried if it wasn't her brother. She also wondered if the M. Carter file Vernon had dug up was about Micheal, not her. If it is true than she fears for his soul. The things Thompson had told her he read... saw in that file were diabolical. She had hope it was all a fake, but Jack told her it was a real, credible, file. It had to be a coincidence Micheal appeared, alive, over a year after Jack's shooting; and he was the assassin who took that redacted file. Maybe no one was meant to read it. Maybe what was in it was a mistake or test that was never meant to be dug up in the first place. Perhaps that was why Micheal took it. But why nearly kill a man for it? Why say you were never in control of what you were doing? That you didn't want to do it? It was all so clustered Peggy couldn't make any sense of it. The only way to do that was to talk with her brother herself. Alone. 

She makes her way out of the observation room and into the interrogation room, causing both men to turn their heads. Micheal is more pleased while Daniel is shocked. Before he can ask her why she came, she takes a moment to glance at the person cuffed to the table before taking Daniel outside the room.

"Peggy, what-"

"I need to speak with him alone." Daniel starts to speak up but she stops him. "Daniel I have to. He doesn't trust you or anyone else here. I know I can get him to talk."

He stays quiet for a moment, lost in thought, then he looks up at her. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the non sense he just spoke about does it?"

"Chief Sousa, the man in that room will not give you everything you need. I can get him to talk, if not, at least understand what he's saying." He sighs and looks around them, the other agents walking around and sitting in the office. Everyone busy at work. "Daniel." Sousa looks back at her, knowing she's right. "Do you trust me?"

"With my life." He replies instantly.

"Then you know to trust in me when I say I know what to do. Right now he only trusts me, at the very least he remembers some of his past and has a basis of trust. I can use that to get the information we need. Daniel..."

Sousa looks around before looking at her, making sure no one is listening to their conversation. "Peggy you know I trust you. But if he's acting like this, talking in... what- code? Then he obviously won't say anything concrete and useful."

For a moment Peggy thinks. Micheal may not be comfortable here with listening ears. Its an organization full of agents and spies. And Thompson is here as well. He may not be as blunt as needed. But as these thoughts cross her mind, she thinks of an idea. They won't talk at the SSR, instead they will some where else. Daniel sees her expression and instantly knows she has an idea, one he likely won't like. But this is Peggy Carter, she does what she pleases to get the best result in anything she does.

"Then we won't talk here." As she says this, Daniel sighs and shakes his head. "You know that the SSR is compromised. Even if we don't rely on the information Dottie told me, we have enough evidence from Masters and-"

"I know I know," He groans and sighs again. This whole situation was shaping up to be more complicated than either of them anticipated. "This is... a lot." Peggy nods in agreement and reaches for his hand. 

"I'll take him to Howard's through the back way. When we're done I'll give you a call." Daniel glances up at her before looking to the interrogation room again. "If I know my brother, and I do, he'll talk. But as of now he doesn't know or trust anyone here. That 'code' he was speaking was a sign. I have a gut feeling he'll come clean as long as I'm the one listening."

Daniel stops and thinks for a moment, but doesn't take long to agree with her. Peggy's right. If they were going to get any information she needed to speak with him. Once the office was nearly empty for the night, Daniel had convinced Thompson to not interfere and let Micheal leave with Peggy. Everything was smooth sailing and the Carter siblings made their way out of the building quickly after Peggy had snuck in the interrogation room to uncuff him. She drove them to Howard Stark's penthouse, the place she was living temporarily for the moment. Micheal stared in awes at the building, as much as he could in the night, before looking at his sister. 

"You live here?" She chuckles and grab the keys. 

"It belongs to a friend. I'm only staying until I can find my own space. Flat's aren't as easy to come by in Los Angeles." Micheal chuckles and follows her through the back of the house and through an open window. He tries to look at his surroundings but stops when he sees the mess everywhere. 

"You haven't changed a bit." He laughs, making her smirk and nudge his shoulder. 

"Ha, bloody ha." At this he laughs a little louder, causing her to shush him, and telling him to not wake the butler and his wife. 

"Butler? Good God, Peg's... what sort of friends have you made over the years?" Now it's her turn to chuckle, but then she stops and gets very quiet. Enough to draw his attention. "Are you alright?" Her eyes have swelled up at the realization of what is happening. She's speaking to her dead brother, though not so dead as she had thought. 

"What happened, Micheal? We thought you died. Mum... Dad... they were broken after the news. So was I. We had a funeral and buried your body for God's sake!" She hisses in a low voice, starling him. 

"Seems like you've done well enough without me." He smiles, making her scoff. "Peg, you left that oaf of a fiance and got the life you always wanted. A life of adventure! You joined the war, climbed the ranks, and become top agent. You were recruited for a secret government project and traveled around the world fighting. Even after the war you've done more than most in a life time."

"You're right. Because of you, and what I thought was your death, I stopped trying to please mum and received everything I could have asked for and more. But you're forgetting one thing." He asks her what it is as a single tear slips down her cheek. "You were gone." Micheal gulps quietly and looks away. "Where have you been? What happened in the years you were gone? Why...why didn't you contact us, let us know you were alive and-"

"I couldn't!" He exclaims, shocking her. He sees the affect his outburst has and speaks softer. "I couldn't tell you, Peggy. They wouldn't allow me to contact anyone I loved in anyway."

"Who, Micheal?"

And so he explains, but first they sit down and he tries to keep his distance. Micheal fears what his sister will do once she knows everything. During the war, when he had returned to combat after her engagement party, things had went awry. All he remembered was an explosion sending him back into a tree, the next thing he knew was he was cuffed to a chair along with several of his comrades. Those that were to aggressive were shot on sight, those who were too weak or injured were also shot on sight. And it was down to three men left; Micheal included. They were each taken away to separate rooms, and they never saw one another again. At least until that dreadful day. The day in which the M. Carter files speaks of. 

For days Micheal had went missing, only to return to the military as a escape POW. Then came catastrophe... After it was all done he was pronounced dead to the world- to his own family. Nothing was ever the same for him. He was different- changed. He had no control over anything he had done, and his memory was completely gone; at least for the most part. They forced him to take the file and shoot Jack Thompson, and yet it didn't last forever. Whatever 'treatment' the organization had been giving them had started to ware off; memories had started to worm their way back into Micheal's mind. He feared what they would do had the discovered this, and so he pretended to be under their control. 

"Oh my God... Micheal." She reaches out to him but he flinches away. 

"I couldn't let them know. If I had they would have killed everyone I loved first, then me. I couldn't let that happen."

"Who are 'they'?"

He sighs and sniffles as he recalls his past. A past he wished he never had. "I wasn't lying when I told your friend they go by different names. They're in everything, Peg. Not one business or political agenda do they not have their hands in. It's deep, and much larger than even I could understand. They're ruthless, secretive, crooked, and unwavering. They don't care who they hurt as long as they get what they want. I barely escaped with my life."

"Your riddle... that's what you meant." 

Micheal nods and sighs again. As Peggy comprehends everything her brother had said, a shiver runs down her spine at one of his sentences. _'They're in everything.'_ That was exactly what Rufus Hunt had said during the Isodyne investigation. It all makes sense now. "The council of Nine." Micheal whips his head to his sister as she says this. 

"How on earth did you figure that one out?" She chuckles dryly and shrugs. 

"Just a hunch." He shakes his head and looks away. 

"I know what you're thinking and you can't do it." At this Peggy's brow lifts. "You're going to track them down. Try to stop them. But you can't."

"You do realize the more you say I can't, the more I want to prove you wrong?" Micheal chuckles at this and shakes his head. 

"Many have tried and failed. They've been killed! How do you expect to take down something that always springs back up after one set back? One small section in the entirety of their organization. It's not possible."

Now Peggy becomes entirely breathless. What always comes back the more you fight it? What organization did she fight and thought she had destroyed in the war?

"Cut off one head, two more shall take it's place..." She mumbles. Its so quiet that Micheal barely hears. 

"I've heard that phrase said several times on base. How did you-"

"Hydra." 

The Council of Nine was a part of Hydra. They kidnapped, tortured, and brain washed Peggy's brother. This was not at all what she expected. She looks over to him before rushing over to her phone. Micheal is baffled by this and asks her the purpose for such a late call and to whom, so she explains. Her 'friend' and the man Micheal tried to kill helped her on a sensitive case. One that involved the very people that she fought in the war, and the ones that had hurt Micheal. Daniel and Jack would be the only people in the entire SSR, apart from Rose, that would be able to help her figure out what to do next. The Council of Nine- Hydra- will be taken down. And for good this time.


End file.
